"It was a Pleasure to Burn"

Here it is so far! I always say 'so far,' because I seem to tweak things right at the end every time. Regardless, this piece finally has that cooked feeling. Let me know what you think!

I might as well elaborate on the image.

This illustration is based on the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The book's protagonist, Guy Montag, is pictured at the left. He is a fireman in the future. Everything in the future is fireproof, so firemen make fires, and they burn books. Clarisse, pictured on the right, is a young girl he meets from the neighborhood. She opens his eyes to the world he was missing, and from that moment a fire starts in his soul that threatens to destroy his artificial world.

I wanted to portray the ignition of his imagination here. A much more symbolic painting than I have done in a long time, but I like it. I was going for two things here: Mood and subtlety. I wanted it to look like a dreary evening fog that Clarisse's ebullience directly contradicted. I also wanted there to be a fight between organic and industrial between the sharp wrought-iron fence, slick leather glove, the twisted tree and soft dress folds.

I think there are still small things I need to balance on the piece, but, as is my usual pattern, I will set her aside to garner critiques and cool down so I can look at it with fresh eyes. Enjoy!